The income of Movember Europe, the UK-registered arm of the worldwide men's health charity, fell by almost a quarter over the past year, following a decline in the number of people taking part in its moustache-wearing fundraiser.

The charity’s latest annual accounts reveal that 255,394 registered fundraisers, known as “mo bros” and “mo sistas” took part in the campaign last year, compared with 363,990 in 2012.

The fall in the number of participants saw Movember Europe’s income drop by £6.6m – from £27.1m in 2013 to £20.5m in the year ending 30 April 2014.

Voluntary income dropped from £26.6m to £19.9m, while investment income also dropped from £221,682 to £154,611.

But the organisation's operational expenditure also dropped slightly to £4.4m, down from £4.5m the previous year, due in part to a “decrease in the level of bank and credit card fees as a result of lower donations being received” and an “increased investment in Movember Europe’s website infrastructure”.

The charity spent £370,000 less on generating voluntary income than the previous year at £2.4m in the year ending 2014, down from £2.7m the previous year.

Staff costs increased slightly to £1.7m – up from £1.6m the previous year. Of those costs, some £992,715 was spent on salaries and wages (up from £931,478 in 2013). Two additional staff members entered the top salary brackets of between £100,000-£109,999 and £70,000-£79,999.

The London-based charity specialises in health programmes that aim to have an “everlasting impact on men’s health” - with a particular focus on prostate cancer, testicular cancer and men’s mental health.

To date, the charity has raised £346m and funded over 800 programmes in 21 countries, through encouraging men to wear a moustache during “Movember”, which takes place annually in November.